I know I'm going to get flamed, but I replaced the (4) OEM single arm stabilizers on my Trail Cruiser 30 ft travel trailer with (6) 24" scissor jacks. I experimented with lifting excessive weight with the scissor jacks and found that it is easy to lift the trailer wheels off the ground without frame bending.

During testing I have gone to the extreme and used (1) jack on the back corner to lift the wheels right off the ground. I first used blocking on the front corner and took the weight off the tonque jack to prevent damage to that jack. Then I used a cheater bar and cranked that one scissor up until the wheels had enough space below them to slide a 2x6 board under. The trailer wasn't even visibly twisted. Both doors opened and closed without an issue, the only visible sign inside the trailer was the bathroom door did not latch closed unless I pulled upwards on it slightly.

Keeping in mind that I'm just testing, I used all six scissor jacks together and picked the entire trailer up off the wheels and tongue jack without a problem. It is perfectly straight and level without bending.

My first two trips out camping with the new setup went perfectly. I used three jacks on the low side to level, then used the 3 jacks on the high side to stabilize. On one site I needed to life about 3 inches to level, and the weight was nearly off the wheels, so I jacked slightly higher and put a 1x6 board under the wheels and lowered back down. I am confident that with care, and proper placement, the scissor jacks can be used for lifting.

I would not lift again like the testing phase, I know the trailer is not designed to be lifted from one rear corner and supported only by a stand on the front corner and the opposing wheels, but it did just fine during the test.

jetboater454 wrote:Want to see if it twists the frame? Try to open the door as you jack it up.

I did, while I had only (1)jack lifting very high. Trailer was lifted on the back left corner. Supported only by the jack, the blocking on the front left corner, and the right side wheels. I would consider a lift like that to be the 'highest' pressure possible on the frame. I was lifting from approximately 8 feet behind the axles, both doors still functioned just fine. I have a lightweight trailer with the aluminum I-beam frame, so it is 'weak' compared to a box frame trailer. I did this more for information / curiousity. I like to push things to the limit to see what happens.

Before installing the scissor jacks, I lifted a little with the stabilizer one arm jacks, held the pressure until I walked around inside the trailer... then 'snap' and one failed. So for everyone who does not believe how weak the one armed stabilizers actually are, I barely lifed with it, I would have considered in just above 'fine levelling' I hardly lifed more then I would after levelling with boards and then lowering the stabilizers and slightly lifting just to put pressure down.

The idea of the scissor jacks for me is to lift up to about 2 inches, not lift the wheels. I still carry boards for heavy levelling, then use the scissors for light levelling. I lower two stabilizers after all the levelling is done and the trailer is nearly solid.

Terryallan wrote:Do what you want. It's your TT. Just be aware the manufacturer tells you NOT to lift the trailer with the stabilizers. that is what they are, not lifting jacks. Prolly with good reason.

I'm talking about aftermarket scissor jacks listed as levelling / stabilizing. The manufacturer simply states not to lift excessive weight with jacks. For the testing, I absolutly lifted excessive weight, but only to see how an extreme lift would affect the trailer. Now I'm confident that during normal use, the slight to moderate lift I apply to level will not damage the trailer.

Similar to testing the towing limits. I have pulled the trailer up to 130 kph to see how it reacts to wind and drag, and passing trucks. It was fairly stable, but I would not want to tow like that all the time. Now I typically tow 90 - 100 kph but I'm confident it can handle the higher speeds, so the lower speeds are easy

I don't see a huge deal here.. you replaced the oem with stronger jacks and more of them. As others said, it's your RV, do as you wish. My first thoughts were on how seasonal RV's are often lifted off the wheels and placed on blocks so with that reasoning in mind and the number of those I've seen I'd jump to the conclusion that with the right jacks in the right positions it shouldn't be a problem.

I got tired of carrying boards so I bought 4 - 7,500# scissor jacks for my 5th wheel and they work great to lift the low side up a few inches. Welded them to the 16" frame. The cheap ones that come with the unit are to stabilize it only but these are for lifting.

They make auto lifts to level TT's and 5th wheels so what is different about scissor jacks except they are manual.

In my life I've spent my money on women, booze, Harleys, guitars and traveling, the rest I just wasted...